Savior
by TheHumbledWriter
Summary: How can you possibly give enough thanks to the one and only person who has saved you in every way someone can be saved? A story of the cursed Sohma family and their beloved rice ball.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Hello there! This marks my first return to fanfiction in a long while – it's been almost 8 years I think. I hope I can do Fruits Basket justice with this idea, which just popped into my head a few days ago if I'm being quite frank.

I hope you enjoy!

**Savior **

The five of them sat utterly still, each on their knees with their hands folded in their laps. Silence deafened the room; the air was so thick with tension it could be cut with a knife. Akito lay in front of them and began to tap his fingers lightly on the floor in slow, careful movements. As he stared blankly at the five faces in front of him they each turned their head down or away, anything to avoid that steely, soulless look.

"So," he said, his silky voice pervading the silence. "You two have come here to receive my blessing, have you?" He paused. "And you're afraid that I'm going to refuse so you brought some friends along to try to convince me otherwise. Is that the way of it then?"

At this Kyo tensed and met the head of his family's cold gaze with a fire in his eyes. He clenched his fists and opened his mouth to speak but it was Tohru, instead, that answered the head of the Sohma family.

"Yes, Akito." She placed a gentle hand on Kyo's clenched fist. "Kyo and I have come here before you today to ask for your blessing." Her voice was trembling but not once did she falter in her words.

Akito abruptly sat up and walked over to stand before Tohru. "I've been quite tolerant, have I not?" He quipped. Kyo gripped Tohru's hand tightly. "Allowing you to live in that house with Yuki, Kyo and Shigure for the last two years," his words were dripping with contempt now. "Allowing you to keep your memories of the Sohma family even after learning of our little secret. And now you have the audacity to think I'll allow a union between you, a complete outsider, and a member of the Zodiac…the cat of all of them!"

He struck Tohru hard on the cheek. Immediately Kyo launched himself at Akito. "You bastard, how dare you lay a hand on Tohru!" he roared. He punched the head of the Sohmas hard in the chest and shoved him up against the wall, his hands closing in on Akito's neck.

As if the tension keeping them rooted where they sat had suddenly abated, Yuki and Shigure rushed to restrain Kyo. "Kyo!" Shigure shouted, grabbing his cousin's left arm. "Stop this!" Yuki rushed in on Kyo's right side and both tried to pull their cousin away from Akito, who was clawing at Kyo's hands and gasping for air.

Hatori, who had rushed to Tohru's side the second she was struck, helped her up to a sitting a position and held her steady. Her cheek was already starting to bruise and tears started to stream down her face.

"Kyo…" she said quietly. Her legs trembled as she slowly stood and Hatori rose with her, making absolutely sure to keep her that extra inch away from his chest lest he transform into his horribly inconvenient form at a time like this. They made their way over to Yuki and Shigure, who were futilely struggling to keep Kyo from choking Akito.

"You keep your filthy, disgusting hands off of her!" Kyo's voice cracked from the intensity of his anger. Then Tohru lightly touched Kyo's arm and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. Immediately his tight grip on Akito's neck loosened and Yuki and Shigure released his arms. The head of the Sohma family slumped to the floor and began to cough violently, desperate for air.

"It's ok, Kyo," Tohru said. "I'm ok." She looked up at her fiancée and smiled, the tears still streaming down her face. The bruise on her cheek was starting to yellow.

Kyo's breath hitched and he caressed Tohru's face. "No it's not ok," he choked out. "Look what he's done to your face," he sucked in air. "Your beautiful face," he finished, his final words no more than a whisper. He kissed her forehead and at that moment wished more than anything that he could take her in his arms and hold her close.

Tohru closed the gap between their bodies and after a few too short seconds there was a loud _poof!_ Shigure, Yuki and Hatori gasped and stepped back several paces in surprise. Even Akito glanced up with a quizzical look on his pale face. When the smoke cleared, Tohru sat on the floor in front of all of them with an orange cat wrapped tightly in her arms.

Akito spat. "This is what you want to be with for the rest of your life? A despicable creature who turns into a cat?" His breath was still ragged from the force Kyo had put on his throat. "A despicable creature who turns in a monster…a monster who smells like something dead and rotting." His voice was eerily low.

Yuki, Shigure and Hatori bowed their heads. Tohru was silent.

Akito sneered and stood over the small, trembling girl, still clutching Kyo tightly to her in his cat form. "But even if he is despicable he is still connected to me, no matter how much the thought disgusts me." He took a lock of Tohru's chocolate brown hair and twirled it in his long fingers. "And you will not take him from me."

Suddenly, Tohru slapped Akito's hand away from her and rose so abruptly that Kyo almost fell from her arms. "He is not yours to control," she said. Her voice and body were trembling and tears continued to frame her face. "None of them are," and she gestured to the other members of the Zodiac behind her. "They may share in the curse with you but they're people and they all deserve to be happy. And being happy means they're away from you!" She paused and kissed Kyo on the head who in turn responded by licking her chin. "I love Kyo and he is the man who has asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I intend to do so and that will happen whether you give us your blessing or not."

Akito stared at Tohru dumbfounded, as did everyone else in the room. Never before had anyone seen such courage and defiance come from the little riceball.

She took the moment of silence to grab Kyo's clothes from the floor, push past Hatori and quickly run from the room. Shouts of "Stop them!" and "She's taking him from me!" rang throughout the halls of Sohma house but as they got further and further from the room the shouts began to fade. She silently thanked Yuki and the others for doing whatever it was that was keeping Akito from pursuing her and Kyo.

"You were incredible back there," Kyo said after a moment. Tohru stopped running and they found themselves before the main gate. She set him down and after another loud _poof!_ Kyo transformed back into his human form and quickly changed clothes.

Tohru sighed and allowed some more tears out. "I had to say something, Akito was saying such awful things."

Kyo grabbed her by the shoulders and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you, Tohru Honda."

Tohru beamed up at him. "It'll be Tohru Sohma soon." She stood on her tiptoes and innocently kissed Kyo on the lips. "I love you so much."

They stood there quietly for a moment, staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity Yuki and Shigure came running up from behind…

**Author's Note:**

To be continued…Chapter 2 should hopefully be up soon.

Please review if you read!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

Back with Chapter 2!

**Savior, Chapter 2**

_6 months earlier…_

"Wow," Tohru sighed. "Just look at that beautiful sky. It's the perfect day for a graduation!"

It was the end of March and Tohru, along with Yuki and Kyo, were finally graduating from high school. It had been just about two and a half years since she had begun living with the Sohma family and almost three years since her mother's death.

She turned from the window and crossed the room to her desk. Gently, she picked up her picture of Kyoko Honda and smiled sadly. "Today's finally here, Mom. The day I finally get to hold that diploma and let you know what it feels like to graduate high school." Tears began to well up in her eyes and her shoulders started to tremble ever so slightly. She sniffled and a lone tear fell down her cheek. Her hands shook and she dropped the picture frame.

Down the hall, Kyo heard the sound of breaking glass and rushed into Tohru's room. "Hey!" he burst through the door. "What the hell happened?" He paused.

Tohru was slumped on her knees, her face buried in her hands. Her mother's picture frame lay in front of her, smashed into hundreds of pieces. "Tohru," he said gently, "what?"

She snapped up. "Oh, Kyo!" Desperately she began to rub her eyes, "U-um I wasn't crying! The glare from the sun on Mom's picture frame just caught my eye and made me drop her frame and I-I uh –" Kyo put his hand firmly on her head and her rambling immediately stopped.

"It's ok," he said quietly. "You don't need to try so hard. You can cry, ya know, if ya want to."

"B-but I have no reason to cry," Tohru meekly protested. "I have such a wonderful life living here with you all. And I have two amazing friends who look after me and protect me. And we're all graduating high school together on such a beautiful day." She rubbed her eyes again. "So you see," her voice was now a trembling whisper, "I have no reason to cry."

"If that's how you feel," he paused. He knew that's exactly how she did not feel. How could anyone be so happy all the time, especially when they'd suffered through so much pain? He gently started to rub her head when her shaking didn't stop, silently relishing in the feel of her silky smooth hair between his fingers.

"Why did she have to die?" Tohru asked quietly. "I wanted her to be here with me on this day, so she could watch me stand on that stage and hold my diploma." Kyo's breath caught in his throat. "So I could tell her in person what this feels like," her last words were a faint whisper.

They sat there together for a few silent moments more, Kyo continuing to stroke Tohru's hair. It wasn't long before he too was crying. _"I love you so much,"_ he heard his mother's voice in his head. The memory made his blood run cold as ice. "I wanted that too," he said slowly. The words came out without him even realizing. The weight of his mother's death suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks and in that moment he realized just how Tohru was feeling. "I wanted my mom to be here with me too."

Tohru gasped. "Kyo, I…" she trailed off. "I'm sorry, I was so wrapped up in my sadness that I completely forgot about yours." She turned completely to him and lightly cupped his face. "This must be a bittersweet day for you too. I'm so sorry for being so unaware."

Kyo inhaled sharply and suddenly realized how close they were to each other. He found himself lost in her wide, blue eyes. "Idiot," he said, not unkindly. "You never need to apologize for anything." He inched his face closer and closer to hers and she slightly opened her lips, her eyes growing wider.

"Kyo," Tohru breathed, her eyes slowly closing. Their lips touched for a split second and for that fleeting moment each of them experienced their own heaven. Their heart beats became loud thumps and Kyo slowly began to move his hand down to cup Tohru's face.

"Oh my little flower!" Shigure cried suddenly. "And Kyo, you lecherous young man. Are you upstairs alone with Tohru trying to take her innocence on a day as auspicious as your high school graduation?"

They immediately jumped apart from each other, their faces a bright red. Kyo immediately rose to his feet and desperately tried to find something to say. Much to his surprise (and relief), Tohru spoke up. "That was nice," she said quietly, the color in her face rising even more. She picked up the picture of Kyoko and placed it gingerly on her desk. She turned to Kyo with a bright big smile on her face, "Well we better go. We've got a graduation ceremony to attend!"


End file.
